The unofficial mayor of North Lawrence, Ted Boyle advocates for his neighborhood every chance he gets.
| 2018 Q4 | story by writer Dr. Mike Anderson | photos by Steven Hertzog
Back in July, a Lawrencian named Chris Flowers got up before the Lawrence City Commission to advocate that genital massages should be legal in Lawrence. The video of his speech soon went viral. The video was featured on the Reddit and Vice sites, in The Kansas City Star and even on “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” What stands out in this video isn’t just Chris’s use of colorful language; it’s the man sitting in the background with the grin on his face. As one commenter on Reddit put it, “I can’t stop looking at the old man in the back with the world’s best poker face.”
That “old man” is Ted Boyle, president of the North Lawrence Improvement Association (NLIA). That Tuesday City Commission meeting certainly sticks out in his mind. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘Oh shit. Are you kidding me?’ If the camera would have been on the commission, it would have been more entertaining. All their jaws dropped to the table,” Boyle says. Since he doesn’t stay up to late or watch late-night television, he first learned he was on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” from his daughter, who lives in Cincinnati. “She calls me and goes, ‘Tell Dad he was on ‘Jimmy Kimmel.’ And I said, ‘What?’ ”
Boyle doesn’t seem too fazed or even impressed by any of it. Since it aired, he can’t go to a meeting without someone telling him they saw him on national TV, to which he just replies, “Hey man. I know. Whatever.”
But Boyle isn’t difficult to find on local television. He is actually a consistent fixture at every City Commission meeting, advocating for his North Lawrence neighborhood. Since 1996, Boyle has served as its unofficial mayor. His improvement association is the oldest watchdog in the city. He serves on four different North Lawrence committees. “You got to keep your thumb on what’s happening,” he explains. “What I know will benefit my neighborhood.”
Ted Boyle
Boyle is quick to point out how North Lawrence was here first. He can show you remnants of gas stations from the ’20s and ’30s. He can show you where the first governor of Kansas lived right behind the airport. He can explain how North Lawrence has the largest quantities of Type 1 and Type 2 soil in the state. He is an ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) master mechanic. For 30 years, he owned an auto repair shop in North Lawrence. Now, he helps neighbors with engine repairs in his garage. According to Boyle, he still works on anything that burns gas. Currently, he’s rebuilding a 1947 Indian Chief motorcycle.
Boyle has five kids, nine grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, some of whom still live in North Lawrence. He’s been married to his wife, Patricia, for 45 years. “It’s a partnership, give and take things, whether you like it or not,” explains Boyle when asked about the keys to a successful marriage.
He first heard of NLIA in 1989. He wanted to build a new shop for his business, but he was told by the city to contact his neighborhood association. Then a couple of years later, he became invested in the water pump on Second Street that he felt didn’t do much for the residential buildings, only businesses. Three years after that, he was the president of the association. “Supposedly, the older you get, the wiser you get, and you start to appreciate things more,” Boyle explains. “It’s like if you told me 40 years ago that I was gonna do what I do today, I’d told you that you’re full of crap.” The unofficial mayor of North Lawrence doesn’t let up. “When I took over, we were looked at as a slum and blighted category; we got that tag removed to low mod now.”
Boyle says that 56% of North Lawrence is low and moderate income, and 78% of the homes are owner occupied. Because of this distinction, he is able to apply for federal grants through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program. These federal dollars help NLIA with operating expenses, capital improvement and quality of life. Boyle uses most of the money for traffic-calming devices, which, he argues, is why North Lawrence has the highest rating for sidewalks. One five-year period, Boyle was able to get $55,000 in federal grants. The city has installed five traffic-calming devices on Lyon Street alone. Boyle has been applying for these grants for 20 years and is extremely successful. The most he’s ever gotten in one year from CDBG grants is $7,000. The federal government gave Lawrence about $1.5 million in 1996, but this year, the amount the federal government gave the city was $800,000. “The same institutions are applying for the same money. So, it’s a fight,” Boyle says. And a fight he has been winning for his neighborhood. NLIA still has close to $50,000 from federal grants.
Railroad tracks and elevator in North Lawrence.
Boyle’s vision of North Lawrence is for the area to, “stay the same, but better.” He likes the rural atmosphere of North Lawrence and wants the residential areas to stay residential. “We are very serious about our quiet neighborhood,” Boyle explains. He is comfortable with commercial or industrial development in North Lawrence, as long as it’s west of North Second Street. In fact, he has helped developers for 12 years with plans to build a riverside living and business development. Part of this development includes building multiple buildings tall enough to see over the river levee. Boyle is currently working with two developers on Phase 1 of this project and is comfortable with the plan as long as the buildings don’t go above four stories, are consistent with the current architecture of the depot and have their own independent storm drainage system.
Besides this riverfront development, Boyle’s current projects include: 1) quite zone with the railroads (something he started five years ago; 2) a push-button pedestrian crossing button at Fourth and Locust streets; 3) more traffic-calming devices; and 4) stormwater plans.
This final project is the one ongoing project Boyle puts the most effort into. He believes stormwater is North Lawrence’s No. 1 priority. “Everything built in North Lawrence has to go along with our stormwater plan,” he says. “Development happening west of Mass is OK as long as they use their own stormwater system. Every drop of water in North Lawrence has to be pumped out.”
Boyle reminds the city about realigning the ditches to get the water to flow to the pumps. “Every year, I’m on them,” he says. He would like to see the city allocate more funds to bringing in outside consultants, and his wife often serves as his editor and proofreader for his letters on this subject. “She takes the profanity and frustration out of my letters,” he jokes.
Any morning at Aimee’s Coffeehouse, you might find Boyle meeting with one of the city commissioners. He says he keeps a great relationship with them and City Stormwater Engineer Matt Bond, with whom he works closely. One elected official who has had the pleasure of a coffee talk with Boyle is two-term City Commissioner Matthew Herbert. “My experience in working with Ted on North Lawrence neighborhood issues is that, for better or for worse, he is probably the most brutally honest person in Lawrence; he will show no hesitation in telling you exactly what he believes, which, by the way, is more often than not good policy,” Herbert explains.
What is Boyle talking with these commissioners about? He consistently advocates for stormwater studies. Because of his efforts, the city has spent $16 million on stormwater infrastructure since 2003. This spending has included a completed pump on Maple Street, storm drainage under the bypass, and new drainage pipes. What started as 9-foot pipes have now been replaced by 54 to 60-foot pipes. “Patience and persistence is what you need to have,” Boyle says. “Ninety-four percent of the time, things don’t happen quickly when dealing with the city, county or state.”
So Boyle keeps at it, looking for opportunities to make his neighborhood better. He believes people move to North Lawrence for the rural atmosphere and/or the Woodlawn School. And he wants to make sure both are taken care of. As the official mayor of Lawrence, Stuart Boley says, “It’s obvious that Ted really cares about North Lawrence. But as you get to know him, you find out that there’s a lot more to Ted than that, and it’s great to get to know him.”
While being the only president of a Lawrence neighborhood association to appear on national television might give him bragging rights, the unofficial mayor of North Lawrence sees other benefits for all of his years of work. “My reward is seeing the trees and community. I like the way it is when I look out my front porch.”